
AMERICAN ENGLISH SCHOOL AES
40 good means to do so. The files were too big to e-mail, and posting them
online would take hours. With that, Hurley and Chen had their first idea
for a sustainable business. Using the money they had received from the
PayPal buyout , Chen and Hurley decided to create YouTube, to make
uploading and sharing videos online as easy as anyone could want. It
45 was the birth of a revolution.4
"We're not in a hurrY:' Hurley once said. "We're interested in building
our community. We're trying to improve discovery. We're trying to
improve the experience for people on our site." They might not have been
in a hurry, but their site sure grew in one. Today, YouTube has almost half
50 of the online video market, and it is still growing. How did a university
dropout and a boy who loved to draw become the industry leaders they
are considered now?
User-Oriented: Hurley and Chen knew from personal experience how
difficult it was to upload and share videos online. And that was why they
55 decided to create You Tube. They wanted to create a website that others
like themselves would find useful. By prioritizing its users' needs and
being as easy and interactive as possible, YouTube was able to find a loyal
audience that numbers in the millions.
Unique: When you visit YouTube.com, you are most likely searching
60 for something that you cannot find anywhere else. From long-lost '80s
music videos, to political speeches, to the current events of today, you are
almost guaranteed to find it on YouTube. And that is why people keep
coming back for more.
3 fast friends very good friends
4 the birth of a revolution beginning of a dramatic change in the way things
are done
Viral: Both YouTube's marketing strategy and growth as a result have
65 been viral in nature. From holding promotions such as the iPod Nano
daily giveaway to having an external video player that can be placed on
any website and can link back to their own, Hurley and Chen created
a platform that continues to grow at an exponential rate.s
Well-Timed: Some have suggested that YouTube's success was due to a
70 perfect storm6 of environmental factors. More to the point, it was Hurley
and Chen's ability to not only notice, but also take advantage of that storm
that pushed them to the top. From the lessening of the cost of bandwidth
and digital cameras to the growth of online social networks, Hurley and
Chen created a company that was right for the times.
75 Focused: Hurley and Chen were never out to create a money-making
machine. They wanted to create a sustainable business, but also one that
meant something to its users. And so, instead of overloading its pages
and videos with advertisements, Hurley and Chen are being careful and
testing the waters as to which ads will work, and where. They are refusing
80 to lose sight of 7 their number one priority, their user.
YouTube put the right technology out there to meet a need, but it did
so much more than that. It created a simple and unique way for people to